KOCHI: It was a normal day for students of the Greets Public School and people residing at Asoka Road until 8.30 am on Monday, but soon they went ecstatic on seeing a helicopter landing on the school ground.
The helicopter, an Airbus-AS-350 B3 chartered by Heli Tour- a firm that promotes helicopter tourism in South India - was brought to the school as part of an aviation promotion programme.
Heli Tour CEO Shoby T Paul said that the programme was organised to bring the students close of aviation. “A lot of students are interested in flying airplanes and helicopters. We planned this to give the interested students an experience of travelling in the chopper.
Helicopter can become a mode of transportation in Kerala. There are several people using them these days. Now, helicopters are used as ambulance, for transportation of goods, for tourism purpose and for fun-ride. They have also been used for travelling to Sabrimala. One of the major advantages is that helicopters are the safest mode of transportation,” he said.
According Shoby, recently, there have been an increase in the number of people chartering helicopters. It costs around `2,500 per head for a 25-km ride in helicopter.
Around 60 students and some of the parents were given a chance to travel in the helicopter. The students were divided into ten batches, and each batch was allowed a ride that lasted for around 5-8 minutes.
“When the helicopter took off, it was a different scene altogether. From the sky, the houses and buildings looked like boxes. We enjoyed the ride, even though it lasted for only a few minutes,” Sherin, a Class-IV student, said.
Greets Public School Principal Jaya Sabin said that the programme was fixed only a few days ago.
“Last week, Heli Tours contacted us for such a programme. It was a good chance for the students to know more about helicopters and the aviation sector. In the morning, a class on aviation was conducted for the students, before they were taken for the ride,” She said. When the helicopter took off and landed, whipping up dust, the local people gathered in front of the school to have a glimpse of the helicopter flying close to them.
According to engineers at Heli Tour, the same helicopter was used by former Miss World Aiswarya Rai to come to Kochi on Sunday for the inauguration of the Kalyan Silks showrooms.
The pilot of the helicopter was Captain Prakash Birader. Heli Tour has a fleet of three helicopters.
A Heli Tours official said that the Airbus-AS-350 B3 was stationed at Davangere in Karanataka, and that the company chartered it from Shamanur Shivashankarappa, Horticulture and Agro Marketing Minister of Karnataka.
The Airbus-AS-350 B3, also known as Eurocopter AS-350, is a single-engine light helicopter designed and manufactured in France.
It was the first helicopter ever to land on the summit of Mount Everest, in 2005. The high-density version of the Airbus-AS-350 is capable of carrying six passengers, excluding the pilot.